Three Gujarat cities have made LinkedIn’s 2026 “Cities on the Rise” list of India’s fastest-growing non-metro job markets. Surat placed third, Vadodara fourth and Rajkot sixth, according to ChannelIAM and Storyboard18, which both reported on the list. Visakhapatnam topped the ranking, followed by Ludhiana, Surat, Vadodara, Prayagraj and then Rajkot.
How the list was built
LinkedIn tracked year-on-year growth in hiring, job postings and professional migration from March 2024 to February 2026, per Storyboard18. To qualify, a city had to rank in the top half of the country on those metrics and show positive net migration; metros with more than 2.5 million LinkedIn members were excluded from the running, which is why Ahmedabad does not appear on the list despite its own hiring growth. The report also tracked leading industries, top employers and how much remote or hybrid work each city offers.
The drivers differ by city. Surat’s climb came from exports, startup activity and large infrastructure projects, Storyboard18 reported. Vadodara is drawing new businesses and long-term investment. Rajkot’s placement rests largely on its MSME base, the dense network of small and medium manufacturers, engineering units and casting works that has anchored the city’s economy for decades and increasingly supplies parts for automotive and consumer-goods brands.
What it means for Gujarat
The ranking captures a shift already visible on the ground: companies hiring for roles that once assumed a move to Ahmedabad, Mumbai or Bengaluru now advertise them out of Surat or Vadodara instead. For workers in these cities, that can mean access to metro-adjacent salaries and job categories, in IT, banking and manufacturing support roles, without relocating. For Rajkot specifically, the MSME-driven entry is a different kind of growth than Surat’s textile-and-diamond exports or Vadodara’s industrial investment; it points to steadier, if less headline-grabbing, demand for engineering and technical skills tied to the city’s casting and auto-component units.
Ahmedabad’s absence from the list is a reminder that this is a ranking of momentum, not of overall job market size. Ahmedabad remains Gujarat’s largest employment hub by volume; what LinkedIn is measuring here is which smaller cities are closing the gap fastest.
Outlook
Rankings like this tend to attract further investment once companies see peer employers already hiring in a city, a self-reinforcing effect LinkedIn’s report notes has helped Visakhapatnam pull ahead through data-centre and AI-hub investment. Whether Rajkot sees a similar acceleration will depend on whether its MSME base can move into higher-value manufacturing and attract larger anchor employers, rather than remaining a subcontracting hub for firms based elsewhere.
Sources: ChannelIAM, Storyboard18
This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.